The Dirty Mistresses
by Amiyrasmom
Summary: Months after the episode 'Yesterday' Meredith leaves Seattle Grace because Derek and Addison are still together. Alex is the only one of her friends that is still talking to her. She moves to a small hospital in Maine where she's gets a big surprise. Rating is for Mark's potty mouth maybe some sex later...haven't decided yet.
1. Meredith and Mark

**Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy, its characters and plotlines are not mine. I do not make any profit from this or any other story using said plotlines and characters.**

**A/N: Okay so you get this one a day early because I'm going out of town in a few hours and won't be back until late tomorrow. It starts off pretty angsty but it will get fluffy later…let me know what you think.**

**Meredith**

_"__What if just this once, life comes down on the side of the dirty mistresses?"_ He had asked her that question months ago and then he had left. She'd had her answer then and now. Life never worked out for the dirty mistresses. Least of all her. He had left her here alone. Gone back to New York and left her to bear her pain alone. Again. She was destined to be alone. Always. She was always alone and she always would be.

She had spent the past year in Hell and she hated him at times for not staying and going through it with her. Pain shared was pain halved after all. And she was sure he'd hate watching them together just as much as she did. He would have sat beside her at Joe's as they waited for a person that was never going to breeze those doors looking for one of them.

They had been on the same wavelength. And he'd been hot. She could handle sitting in a bar next to him as they both nursed drinks and broken hearts. But he hadn't stayed. He'd gone away. He'd left his pain behind. And he wasn't going to come back and help her hold it together.

He wasn't here for her to commiserate with. He wasn't here for her to support. He'd just left. Left as though they'd meant nothing. He'd run from Addison and he'd run from Derek but mostly, she was sure, he had run from her. She was bad news. She ruined families. It was all she'd ever done.

"Kinda crazy, innit Joe?" She asked when he'd brought her another shot. "Everyone I know has a date tonight. Everyone 'cept me. And I'm pathetically sitting here waiting for a man that will never come."

Joe sighed and gave her a sad smile. "He might still come." He told her even though he knew that Shepherd was never going to show. The man was far too comfortable being the injured party in his marriage to remember the girl whose heart he'd broken.

"He's not going to, Joe. I'm a drunken washed up surgeon—"

"You're a good surgeon, Meredith Grey," Joe objected. "Don't let me hear you say otherwise."

She shrugged and nodded. "Fine, Joe. But as I was saying. I'm a surgeon, a good one, but I'm not stupid. He isn't going to ever show up here for me again. He's off having his own life with the nurses all the way across the country and probably doesn't even remember I exist." She put her head down on her arms and eyed the shot glass. "He left me here alone to deal with the perfect couple. Gag!" She slammed the shot down and motioned for another.

Joe poured it and shook his head. "I thought you meant McDreamy," he told her. Had she been sitting in here nearly every night because of McSteamy instead of McDreamy? They'd chatted together the few times they'd been in at the same time but he'd never seen her leave with Sloan. He hadn't thought they'd had a relationship. But he had been wrong before.

Meredith blew out a frustrated breath and rolled her eyes at his inability to follow a conversation, drunken though it was. "What would I want with that two timing bastard?" She spat out hotly. "Sure, they hurt him. Sure, he was great as a boyfriend. Sure, he has great hair. Sure he's a wonderful guy that's trying to make his marriage work but that's just it. If he'd loved me like he said he did then he would have signed the divorce papers as soon as she handed them to him." She slammed back the shot he'd poured her. "But he didn't. I understand it now though. He loves her. More than me. And that would be okay. It'd be fine and I'd be happy for them except…I'm not. I'm not because everyone, everyone has someone except me."

He poured her another shot and leaned against the bar to face her seriously. "That's the last one, Mer. You've had enough tonight." And she had. It was nearly closing and she was still here. None of her friends had even popped in though he knew they knew where she was. Normally at least one of them would pop in and try to get her to leave. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn't.

Meredith sipped at it a bit. "There's not enough tequila in the world for this pain, Joe. Nothing's numbed it in months." Bitterness and sorrow made her voice almost inaudible.

"I'll call you a cab, Mer," he offered.

"Yeah, sure," she nodded and tossed the rest of the shot down her throat. "At least when I sleep everything seems a bit better."

Joe called her a cab and wiped down the bar near her. "So…" he said as they waited together. "You and McSteamy?"

Meredith snorted. "No. And stop taking my questionable drunkenness as an invitation to pump me for gossip."

"You sure? Cuz…it's just…" he shrugged his shoulders and stared into her green eyes. "There was something…when the two of you were in here together. There was something."

Meredith snorted and shook her head. "Yeah, two losers with broken hearts hoping for something different."

"I wouldn't say that," Joe objected. "You're not a loser. And I don't think he is either. As for the broken hearts…well, they'll heal. Maybe you just need to get away from Seattle like he did. Maybe being here is only stopping you from healing like you should."

Meredith stared at her empty shot glass and slowly nodded. "I could have gone just about anywhere for my internship, you know?" She mused. "I had offers from all over. But I chose Seattle because…because it was where my mom did her internship and residency. And then we went to Boston and…I don't want to go to Boston. But I wanted…something…a connection to my past? Which is stupid. I know it's stupid. I…There was no history here. Not good anyway. I don't know why I'm staying…I really don't."

Joe put a hand over hers. "Meredith…I don't normally advocate running away. People should face the problems in their lives but…your problems aren't anything you can solve by staying. So go. Find a new life. Find your happiness."

Meredith turned her hand over in his and laced their fingers together. "Maybe I should," she nodded and then let go of him and headed out the door. "Bye Joe."

**Mark**

_"__What if just this once, life comes down on the side of the dirty mistresses?"_ He'd known the answer before he'd ever voiced the question to her. Life never came down on the side of the dirty mistresses. Never.

Hope was a dangerous emotion. A very dangerous emotion. He'd gone to Seattle on a fool's errand and only gotten his already broken heart smashed into a million pieces. He should have known better. He had known better but he'd let hope infect him and he'd paid for it.

Seattle held nothing for him but pain. New York held nothing for him but painful memories. And yet…Seattle had green eyes and soft smiles. Green eyes filled with painful hope and soft smiles strained with waiting for something that wouldn't happen.

He didn't know why she kept invading his mind. They'd shared two conversations. Only two. But she'd smiled at him both times. The first time with amusement at his comments and come on lines. And the second time with that empathic comfort of the terminally hopeful. Both smiles had tugged at his heart.

In the dark of the night he tried to picture Addison in his head but all he saw was bruised green eyes and a soft smile. He couldn't force himself to stop seeing those eyes in every face of every woman he'd tried to pick up since.

Mark sighed and shut the file he'd been notating. He really didn't even want to work right now. He didn't want to do anything anymore. Any joy he'd previously found seemed to have flown away when he'd flown to Seattle.

He left his office, bid good bye to his receptionist and headed down the block to his favorite bar. Hopefully he could find someone to take to bed tonight. Maybe he'd be able to drown out the green eyes and the broken heart in someone else's flesh.

"Scotch, single malt, make it a double," he told Adam, the bartender that owned the bar.

"Sure thing, Doc," Adam nodded and poured out the glass of alcohol. "Mind if I ask you something?"

Mark shrugged. "Sure."

"What the Hell are you doing here?" Adam asked and leaned against the bar. "I've known you for a lot of years, Doc. Nearly as long as I've owned this bar. And I just can't figure it out. You're sad and you're lonely and you obviously don't really want to pick up any girls. You're sitting with your back to the room and have been for the past few months. You barely look at the girl's that offer to buy you a drink. So what are you doing here?"

Mark opened his mouth to explode in Adam's face that it wasn't any of his business and then he abruptly closed it. "I'm drinking." He said instead. "I'm drinking and trying to forget that life sucks and that hope is a bitch."

Adam shook his head and gave Mark a long look. "I'm your friend, Doc. But I gotta say that's pretty damn pathetic."

Mark snorted in disgusted amusement. "I know. Oh, I know," he said with a groan. "I'm Mark Sloan. I don't get laid low by a woman but I have. That's the life sucks part and I went to Seattle and she still didn't want me. That's the hope's a bitch part."

"Really?" Adam raised an eyebrow at him. "If you're so hung up on her then why are you still here? Why not fight for her?"

Mark shook his head. "She doesn't want me too. She wants to save her marriage and be with her husband. It just…she doesn't want me."

"The red head, right? Addie?" Adam asked. Mark nodded even as green eyes once again flashed across his sight. "Wanna know something?" Mark shrugged and drained the glass. Adam refilled it and handed it back. "She wasn't the right one for you anyway. I saw you with her, man. You never really laughed. A relationship needs to have some laughter or it's too much. If you can't laugh together then you can't cry together."

A lilting laugh and sparkling green eyes. _"Sensitivity, I like that in a stranger."_

"Yeah," Mark nodded soberly. "Yeah, I know."

"Then why are you still moping around here?"

Mark shrugged and took a large swallow of his drink. "Too many damned memories, man. He was my brother. And I fell in love with his wife and she left me to go back to him. Everywhere I go I still see them. I still expect him to storm into my office and flop down in my chair to bitch about something. I still expect her to bring us lunch and sit around gabbing about our patients. I just can't seem to escape them."

Adam gave a laconic shrug. "So leave. Nothing's holding you here. His family wrote you off for sleeping with her. Only thing keeping you in Manhattan is you."

Mark tilted his head in thought. Adam moved off down the bar to wait on another customer and leave Mark to think about what he'd said. He knew there was more to the story than Mark would admit but he didn't push. Mark would tell him if he needed to know.

Mark stared unseeing into his glass of scotch. Why was he still in Manhattan? There was even less here for him than there had been in Seattle. He could walk around a corner without remembering something from his life before. He and Derek had grown up here. There wasn't a part of the city that they hadn't been together in.

His apartment reminded him of Addison. In the two months she'd lived there with him she'd change all of the furniture to suit her tastes. It still carried her mark. And all his favorite restaurants were ones he'd taken her too.

Maybe it was time to move on. To leave the city and its memories. Maybe it was time he really did grab that fresh start. Maybe the green eyes would disappear then and that sweet smile would go away. Maybe.


	2. Maine

**Disclaimer: Not mine. Still. I promise. This is only for fun.**

**Maine**

Mark held his hand out to the dark haired older man. "Thank you, Dr. Queltin."

The older man grinned, showing off even white teeth, his gray eyes sparkling as he shook Mark's hand. "Not a problem, my boy. Call me Dr. Q, everyone does. We're happy to have you." He paused and appraised the younger man. "Though I do wonder why you gave up your practice to move to this backwater hospital."

Mark ran a hand through his hair and frowned. "I needed a change," he finally said. "I had a lot of things, bad things, happen this year and New York just…well, it wasn't for me anymore."

Dr. Q frowned back and motioned for Mark to retake his seat. Mark hesitated but eventually sat back down. "I'm not trying to pry, but will these things affect your work here, Dr. Sloan?"

Mark folded his hands in his lap and shook his head. "No sir. The work was never the problem. It was an escape from the other things happening."

Dr. Q nodded and sat back in his chair, making it squeak. "Good. If you need anything just let me know, Mark. We're pretty tight knit up here and I think you'll fit right in. We're a small hospital. One of the best in the area of course, we could give some of the New York hospitals a run from their money but still small. So we're kind of like a family. I really hope you enjoy it here and that you decide to stay for more than your two year contract."

Mark gave him a strained smile and stood again. "I'll let you know," he headed for the door and then paused with his hand on the knob. "Incidentally, do you have any idea where I can find a good cappuccino around here?"

Dr. Q let out a deep rolling laugh. "Just like every other surgeon I've ever met," he shook his head. "Try the cafeteria. One of the perks of a small, privately funded hospital is that we have excellent food and plenty of coffee."

"Thanks, Dr. Q," Mark said and head out with a small smile on his face.

**MS/MG MS/MG MS/MG**

Dr. Roland Queltin watched the younger doctor walk out of his office and smiled. In less than six months he had scored big twice.

First his surrogate daughter, the little girl he'd helped raise had called him and asked if he still had a spot open on his intern staff for her. Even if he hadn't he'd have made one for her. Meredith Grey was going to be one of the greats. He'd known that since the first time he'd locked eyes on the little green eyed beauty. She'd been five years old and was sitting at the nurse's station of the surgical wing at Boston Mass Gen with none of the fear or anxiousness of her peers. Instead she'd been staring around her in wonder and curiosity. He'd known then that he was looking at the future of his profession.

Second, Marcus Jacob Sloan had called requesting a job. The Mark Sloan. The foremost plastic surgeon on the east coast and most probably in the US. He'd snapped him up as fast as he could. There was no way he was going to let one of the vultures from the bigger hospitals snatch Mark Sloan out from under him.

Finally JC would get some of the prestige that it deserved. They might not be one of the ranking hospitals in the country but they turned out some of the best doctors in the world. Two of the most famous names in the medical world were now residing in his hospital.

He hadn't accepted them for their names though. No, Roland Queltin couldn't care less about big names or accomplishments. That was just a side bonus. He'd hired them because of something desperate and needy in their voices. They had both nearly hit their limit and they needed a place to heal. He had no idea what had happened to either of them but he knew they would fit into his hodgepodge of a family with aplomb.

Roland stood and made his way to his door. He didn't have the bay of windows overlooking the surgical floor that Richard did. He didn't need to watch his surgeons every movement. He had no need to feel like a god. His office door led out onto the same hallway that housed the offices of all his attendings. That hall led to the stairs to the surgical floor. There was an open balcony beside the stairs and that was where Roland headed now.

He leaned his elbows on the balcony railing and smiled down on the hustle of the floor. Tomorrow the interns, all six of them, would arrive. Tomorrow his little girl would finally come home to him. Tomorrow was going to be the beginning of a great year.

**MS/MG MS/MG MS/MG**

She stared up at the building and took a deep breath. It had taken her longer than she'd thought it would to get here. She was unhappy with the delay but there had been nothing she could really do about it. Now she had to start her intern year over. She tried to tell herself that it didn't matter.

Her mother hadn't settled into the home here as well as she had in Seattle but Meredith knew that it was only a matter of time. Her mother didn't know where she was so here or Seattle was the same. Or would be. As soon as she got used to things.

Ellis had been one of the main sticking points for this move. Finding a good home and transferring her had been a nightmare. Not to mention that Webber had been quite angry with her for leaving and taking Ellis with her. She hadn't given him a choice though. Dr. Queltin at the Joshua Chamberlain Memorial Hospital in Augusta, Maine had been delighted to accept her and had pressured Webber into letting her go. She would be forever grateful to her old friend for that.

Dr. Q had worked with her mother in Boston and had never approved of the way she ignored her only daughter. Dr. Q had pulled Meredith around with him anytime he saw her at the hospital. He had been the person that had wiped her tears away when she'd broken her arm and had brought her ice pops when she'd had her tonsils out. She had learned more from him than any of her teachers in Med school.

The sun peeked over the horizon to her left and she sighed. Enough thinking. She had a job to do. People's lives needed saving and it was high time she got to it.


	3. First Day: Meredith

**Disclaimer: Still not mine. Why must you keep asking? It pops my delusional bubble and I'm forced to acknowledge that someone else came up with this idea. Grey's isn't mine, okay? Happy now?**

**A/N: Yes, I know. I'm a bad author. Has taken much to long for me to update. My internet was glitchy and then it got sort of fixed and I had to work and then go Christmas shopping for a whole day. An ENTIRE day. And it sucked. Cuz I hate shopping. Really hate shopping. But what can you do? So here you go. One chapter of each fic to make up for not posting.**

**First Day: Meredith**

Meredith put on the standard light blue scrubs and ignored the chatter around her. She wasn't here to make friends…it would be nice but she'd learned her lesson when they all abandoned her.

Well, not all, Alex had been calling her like clockwork every two days. He was the only one who hadn't been angry and betrayed at her leaving. He'd understood and supported her decision. He'd even helped her pack up her stuff. He'd promised to keep an eye on her mother's house and not let any idiots rent the other rooms.

George had sent her hurt looks and had told her she was making the biggest mistake of her career. He thought she should stay and tough it out. She was Ellis Grey's daughter for God's sake. Grey's don't quit.

Izzie had yelled and ranted that she was abandoning them. She had sworn that if Meredith left then she'd never speak to her again. She hadn't understood exactly how hard being in that building had become. She hadn't cared that it was slowly killing Meredith. She'd moved out of the house before Meredith had.

Cristina had been the worst though. The last two weeks that Meredith had worked after making her decision had been filled with icy silence from her person. Cristina had called her a fool and a weak willed baby and then had pointedly ignored her for the rest of the time. She'd undercut Meredith in every way she could and stolen any surgery Meredith even looked vaguely interested in.

Even Bailey had been upset but she'd understood and approved of Meredith's change. On her last day Bailey had cornered her in an empty exam room and told her she was proud to have been her teacher for the short time they'd been together. She'd told Meredith that sometimes running away was the only way to grow. And she'd ordered Meredith to keep in touch.

And these memories weren't helping her nerves any. She needed to focus on the job ahead.

"Hi," a bright voice interrupted her thoughts. Meredith turned from her locker. The brunette to her side stuck out a hand. "Ellie Donaldson."

"Meredith Grey," Meredith gave her a faint smile and shook her hand.

"Good to meet you," the brunette smiled back.

"Jocelyn Crawley," a red head said and stood in front of them.

"Well, if we're introducing ourselves then I'm Noel McKinley," a very thin, very tall African American man joined them.

"Michael Phillips," a brown haired man that was built like a linebacker put in.

"And I'm Eric Branigan," the speaker was another tall, thin man with a thick Southern accent.

"All right, everybody," a strident female voice called to them from the door. "Gather round and follow me." The turned as one entity and followed the petite blond out the door. She led them to the desk in the middle of the surgical floor. "This is the main nurse's station. Every morning you will come here for your assignments. As there are only six of you, you won't be given a resident per say. You will work with whoever needs you. For today you get to be my shadows while I show you around and instruct you on how things work here."

"Mandy," one of the nurses whispered loudly. "You forgot to tell them who you are, dear."

"Fu—fingers!" The blond cursed. "Right. Sorry. I'm Dr. Amanda Flyte. I'm the Chief Resident and your nominal boss. Just remember that you are the babies around here and everyone from the janitors to the Chief of Surgery gets to boss you around. Claudia here," she motioned to the older motherly looking woman who'd whispered to her. "Is head nurse. Do not piss her off. She's a vile, mean, evil woman when she wants to be…and she makes some of the best cookies in the state of Maine. You piss her off she will withhold all cookie privileges." She held out a hand to Claudia and a bag was placed in it.

Dr. Flyte dumped the bag out on the counter and passed a pager to each of the interns, followed by a book on trauma protocol. "Now each of you have cell phones, yes? They should have been given to you by HR if you didn't already own one. My advice? Get one of your own. The ones supplied by the hospital suck." She waited for them to nod. "Give the numbers to Claudia now so that we have them handy if we need them. For the next year this hospital owns your lives."

Meredith and the other interns gave the numbers to Claudia and then followed Dr. Flyte on a tour of the hospital. It was vastly different from her introduction to Seattle Grace. Here everything was more laid back and her first day was only an eight-hour shift. She wasn't sure what she was expecting but it hadn't been this.

Three hours later Dr. Flyte led them back to the main nurse's station. "Okay, everybody, that's it for our tour. Do not dare get lost after that, got it?" They all nodded and smiled at the upbeat, hyper motor mouth they'd come to know easily. "All right then, Claudia has your assignments for the day and if you get finished lend a hand down in the free clinic for the next five hours or watch the surgeries from the galleries. This will be your only easy day. Tonight you're all supposed to meet the Chief and the attendings for dinner at Pride of Maine on Maple St. at six p.m. Tomorrow I expect you all here before five for pre-rounds." She smiled at them all. "Have a great day."

Claudia waited until Dr. Flyte was out of sight down the corridor before turning to the interns and clasping her hands together with a crazy smile. "Minions! My very own minions!" She cackled madly and the interns took a step back in fear. "We're going to have such fun together! Branigan, room 2219 needs to be prepped for a tumor removal." She handed him a chart and shooed him away. "Crawley, room 1575 is having a C-Section tomorrow and needs the procedure explained." Another chart was handed over. "Donaldson, 1618 is post op day five from a cardiac bypass. He needs to be discharged after post care is explained. Grey, 2314 needs to be monitored for a stress test." Meredith took the chart.

Meredith hurried away astonished yet again at the difference between JC and Grace. Though she suspected they were easing the interns into things it was still so different. She thought maybe she could come to like it here.


	4. The Dinner

**Disclaimer: Nuh-unh, not mine. Nope. No way. I can't even afford to buy the DVDs. I have to rely on Netflix. Oh, well. I guess I'll survive the disappointment.**

**The Dinner**

Mark cursed heavily as he slammed the door on his two-story ocean front house in Lincolnville at almost five in the afternoon. This was stupid. He hated interns. But he was required to go have dinner with the six suck-ups that now worked at JC. It was an hour drive into Augusta and he had no desire to make the drive for a stupid dinner with stupid know-nothing interns. But it was in his contract so he had too.

"Stupid fucking interns," he cursed again and hit the button to open his automatic garage door before climbing into his Astin Martin and buckling in. Green eyes flashed in his mind's eye at his continue deprecations on all of the interns in the world and especially the ones at JC. "She's not an intern anymore, Sloan. Not by now." He shook his head at himself. The lack of cityness was obviously driving him around the bend. He should have taken the job in Miami.

He flew down the back roads to Augusta with the windows open and heavy metal music pounding through his speakers. The music suited his angry mood. Forty minutes later he pulled to a stop at a stop light and sighed. The speed and the music had helped him calm down some but he still really wasn't looking forward to this evening.

He followed the directions to the restaurant and sat in the parking lot for a moment gathering all of his charm and courage to get through the evening. "Half of them are girls," he reminded himself. "Maybe I can hit it off with one of them." Although when he thought about it for more than an instant the thought of dating anyone turned his stomach. There was only one intern that he would ever even contemplate hooking up with and she lived all the way across the country and was hung up on his ex-best friend.

He banished her image for the tenth time since he'd left his house and jerked the car door open. He wouldn't think about her or Addison or Derek. This was his fresh start. Things were going to be different. He was going to be different. He had to be. Because he didn't know how long he could take being the person he had been anymore.

**MS/MG MS/MG MS/MG**

"Stupid freaking dinner," Meredith cursed as she ran out of the Cliffside Resort where her mother now lived. "I'm going to be so late!" Her mother had been in a mood again and Meredith had borne the brunt of her mother's bad temper. It was five til five and she only had an hour to get back to Augusta, get dressed and get to the restaurant.

She flung herself into her reliable old jeep and tore out of the parking lot. She flicked on the stereo system and the driving beat of Hinder filled the car. She took a deep breath and pressed down on the accelerator. She could do this. From Rockland to Augusta was forty minutes. She would have time to change and still make it to the restaurant in time. Because it was going to be different here. She wasn't a dirty mistress anymore.

Sad blue eyes and a mocking smirk invaded her thoughts and she shook it away. He wasn't here. He had left. She didn't know why she was clinging to him this way. They'd had two conversations. Just two. They barely knew each other. And yet…they did. They knew each other in a way that Addison and Derek would never know them.

"It doesn't matter," she told herself over the music. "None of that matters anymore. None of it." She had to forget about Seattle. Forget about dreamy neurosurgeons that hid wives and sexy plastics gods that left her behind to deal with the fallout of his actions.

She was putting her past where it belonged. Behind her. Far away in her rearview mirror. She had to move on. This was her chance. Her fresh start. No more dirty mistress. No more intern sleeping with her boss. No more tequila. No more destructive behavior.

Dr. Q was giving her a chance to change her life. He was giving her the best present she'd had. A new start. One free of the baggage from the past. Free of Derek. Free of Addison. Free of the father that had never, ever wanted her. A fresh start to find out who the Hell she was meant to be. And she would take it. She had to. Because she didn't know how much longer she could take being the person she had been.

**MS/MG MS/MG MS/MG**

"Hey Meredith," Ellie greeted her in the parking lot of Pride of Maine. "You look nice."

Meredith soothed a hand down her side. "Thanks, you don't look so bad yourself. You ready to head in or are we supposed to wait and go in together?"

Ellie's eyes widened. "Dr. Flyte would have told us if we had to come in a group wouldn't she? I only just got here. I haven't seen any of the others. Should we wait?" One hand crept up to her mouth and she started chewing on a fingernail. "We should wait. But what if the others are already in there? What if we're late and they decided that we weren't coming? We should go in."

Meredith laughed before she could stop herself. Is that how she sounded when she rambled? "You're as bad as I am," she told the other woman happily. "We're going in. If we were supposed to stand out here waiting for the other interns then they should have told us. Since they didn't then it's not our fault." She hooked her arm around the other woman's elbow and towed her into the darkened interior of the restaurant.

"Good evening, ladies," the maître di greeted them suavely.

"Hi," Ellie chirped. "We're the interns from JC…well two of them. We're supposed to be meeting Dr. Queltin."

"Of course," he said smoothly. "Follow me," He nodded his head and headed towards a door in the back of the restaurant. "Dr. Q has reserved one of the private rooms for your use this evening."

The two women followed him silently each lost in their own hopes and wishes for the evening ahead.

**MS/MG MS/MG MS/MG**

Mark bit back a grimace as Eric Branigan's deep Southern twang once again assaulted his ears. God, he really hated interns. Especially interns from the deep south. He drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out. Just a few more hours and he could leave. He could go back to his newly acquired converted farmhouse and bask in the sound of the waves breaking on the shore.

The door opened again and Mark glanced over hoping it was the last of the interns so that they could get this dinner started. There were only two framed in the doorway so there was still one missing. He scowled a bit at the air behind them, vainly hoping that the other would magically appear before looking back towards Dr. Q and Branigan…wait, what? His gaze swung back to the pair of women in the doorway and he blinked quickly.

The vision in a light green dress turned towards him and his jaw dropped. "Grey?!" He blurted before he could stop himself.

**MS/MG MS/MG MS/MG**

Meredith turned slowly towards the sound of his voice. She was almost positive this was a dream or a hallucination. Either one was preferable to him actually being here. Here invading her fresh start.

For a timeless moment their eyes met and held and then Meredith blinked trying to clear the vision from her sight. He was still standing there when her eyes opened. "You have got to be freaking kidding me," she groaned. "Seriously!"

And then there was that sexy, steamy smile. "What the Hell are you doing here, Grey?" He asked with a hint of amusement as he strode across the room and stopped in front of her.

She frowned at him but let him take her hands in his. "I moved," she said simply with a shrug.

His smile dropped a bit. "You moved?" He questioned. "Why? I thought Seattle was your home."

Meredith gave him a fake smile. "Cliffside has much better facilities for my mother. It's a home geared towards Alzheimer's patients. She'll do much better there. And I have to be close to her. I'm all she has. And I grew up in Boston even if I was born in Seattle so Seattle isn't my home."

He studied her, his eyes hardening and then nodded. "If you don't want to tell me the truth then don't, but don't lie to me, Grey."

Meredith scowled. "I'm not lying, Sloan! Why does everyone always accuse me of being a liar? I don't lie. Like ever. Seriously."

Mark scowled back. "I'm only calling you on it because I know damn well you're lying. Every word you said might be the truth but it's not the reason you left Seattle. So you wanna try again, little girl?"

Meredith ripped her hands from his and glared at him hotly. "I moved to get away from jerks like you, Sloan! Jerks that only care about themselves and don't care who they step on or whose hearts they break. What are you doing here? Stalking poor little Meredith Grey that can't seem to hang on to a shred of decency or happiness for more than five minutes?"

"I didn't know the two of you knew each other," Dr. Q said from beside Mark. "Meredith, dearest, it's good to see you." He shouldered Mark out of the way and wrapped his little girl in his arms. "It's been far too long and I'm overjoyed that you're here."

"We don't," Meredith muttered into his shoulder as she returned his hug. "We've met. That's all."

Dr. Q released her and led her to the table. "I see," was all he said. "And should I terminate his contract? Are there going to be issues I should know about?"

Meredith gasped and shook her head frantically. "No, Uncle! He's fine. It was just a shock to see him. There are no issues between us. He's just a reminder of a very bad time in my life."

Dr. Q gave her a long look and then switched his gaze to the sulking young man at the end of the table. "Very well," he finally agreed. "But the offer remains."

"No," Meredith shook her head. "Seriously, Uncle. It's fine. I promise."

He only patted her hand and then stood up. "Good evening everyone," he began pleasantly. "Now that we're all here," he shot an amused look to Michael Phillips who had been the last to arrive. "I would like to greet our newest batch of interns. The six of you will be a credit to our hospital, I'm sure. I would also like to introduce our new plastic surgeon, Mark Sloan." He motioned to the end of the table and Mark gave everyone a tight smile. "Now, the purpose of this dinner is for everyone to become acquainted with each other so please, talk, get to know your interns and attendings. Enjoy yourselves." He sat back down beside Meredith and turned to her. "You must tell me all you've been up to since last I saw you, dearest."

"Ro," the man on her left started. "You can't hog her all to yourself. You already know your niece. The rest of us don't." He stuck his hand out to Meredith. "Jason Crawley, Ortho Attending."

Meredith shook his hand and smiled. "Meredith Grey, Surgical Intern. It's nice to meet you Dr. Crawley…but I'm going to hate being on your service so I'll warn you now."

"Ah," Jason chuckled. "An elitist then? Don't think orthopedics is actual surgery?" His brown eyes were warm and amused. "My wife thinks the same way but I'll show you both."

Meredith laughed and shook her head. "I don't think that. I just have a problem with jocks and ortho gets more jocks than any other specialty. I've hated athletes ever since I was a freshman in high school and the quarterback mowed me down in the hallway and never apologized. He and his friends thought it was hilarious that this tiny freshman was lying on the floor with her books scattered all over the place and a sprained ankle. Jocks and me? Not a good thing."

Jason laughed again. "Wanna know a secret? A similar incident is the reason I chose ortho. Now I get to laugh inside at them while they're in pain. And setting broken bones? That means I get to cause them pain this time around."

Meredith's happy laughter rang out again. "I never thought of it that way."

**MS/MG MS/MG MS/MG**

Mark ignored the intern on his right side, the one who'd been late, and the peds attending on his left with the ease of long practice. He watched her instead. He watched her sparkle and laugh and never cast a single glance at him.

He was furious with her. He'd expected more of her. She'd let them run her off. She'd allowed them to dictate her life for her. Yes, watching Derek and Addison had to be painful, but Jesus, that was a lame excuse to run away from her life.

She was Meredith fucking Grey. What the Hell was she doing in the back of beyond in Maine? She should have been in Seattle, sparkling and showing all of the other interns how things were done. Instead she'd left everything and moved across the country because some guy had chosen his wife over her.

"If you glare at her any harder she's going to burst into flame," the woman on his left told him in a low tone. "And you're freaking out my brother."

Mark turned his head to her and let his eyes become blue ice chips. "Pardon me?" He said in his coldest tone.

To his shock the woman only laughed. "Hi." She said when she'd finished chuckling. "I'm Jessie Tanner. Jason there is my twin brother. And those glares you're sending Dr. Grey are freaking him out."

Mark only frowned at her and turned back to glaring at Meredith.

"Let me guess," the woman persisted. "You moved here to get away from her because she broke your heart. And now she's here and you don't want her here because you still love her but you can't trust her."

One side of Mark's mouth quirked up. "Lady, you are so far off base you'd have to use a phone for the outfield to hear you."

"Really?" She sounded utterly surprised. "Come on, I have to be right. The way you're glaring and the way you two reacted when she came in…I don't think I've ever seen that much sexual tension."

Mark stared at her without turning his head from Meredith. "I have never dated her. I've met her twice in my life. I was just more than a little surprised that she's here. She's running away and it pisses me off."

"Somehow…I don't believe that's the whole story," Jessie chuckled. "That much anger comes from something a lot bigger than you thinking she's running from something. I'm really going to enjoy watching the two of you dance around each other."


	5. After

**Disclaimer: Still not mine. Sorry.**

**After**

He watched her duck out of the room two hours later and followed. He had to talk to her. He had to know why she'd let them drive her off. He might not know her very well but he knew she wasn't the type to just run away. Avoid maybe but not leave everything behind in an effort to forget the pain. That was his M.O. not hers.

"Grey!" He called out after they'd both cleared the door of the restaurant. Darkness had fallen and he could barely make out her slight form in the parking lot.

Even with the lack of light he saw her shoulders lift and sag with a sigh and then square as she turned to face him. "What Sloan? Haven't you aired your grievances enough for one night?"

He walked over to her until only a few feet separated them. "I might have been out of line earlier," he stalled. "I just…never expected to see you here." He really hadn't meant to get so angry with her. He knew he had no right. She shouldn't have been any more than a blip on his radar but she'd been haunting him for months. And seeing her here and in the flesh instead of a hallucination or vision had thrown him off. He didn't like feeling unsettled and surprised.

Her shoulders relaxed a bit and she nodded. "You caught me by surprise too," she admitted. "And maybe I overreacted."

"So how about we start this over again," he suggested and pulled her hands into his. "What the Hell are you doing in Maine, Grey?"

Meredith sighed and tugged him over a few feet so that she could boost herself up on the hood of her jeep. "You know, a few weeks before you showed up…I held a bomb in my hands for hours." He remained silent having heard parts of the bomb story when he'd been in Seattle. "I was stupid. But I just…had to do what I could for my patient. I hadn't felt like a doctor in so long. And then James came in with a bomb in his chest. And Hannah freaked and ran. So I did a stupid thing. Another stupid thing."

Mark leaned his hip onto the hood beside her and crossed his arms over his chest. "You know, from what I heard if you hadn't done that then the whole building would have blown and you'd be dead anyway."

Meredith let out a light laugh. "I didn't know that at the time though. Anyway, that's not my point. I had a lot of bad stuff happen to me and around me last year. A lot. More than any one person should have to handle. And I just…I had to leave. Staying in Seattle was killing me. Literally."

He shook his head. "I still don't understand, Grey. So you got your heart broken. Happens to everyone at least once."

Her shoulders slumped. "You sound like Cristina," she muttered and then straightened up again. "But I'll forgive you because you weren't there. You just don't understand it, Sloan. I'd hit my limit."

Mark frowned at her. "So explain it to me," he ordered and she shivered before wrapping her arms around herself. "After we get somewhere warmer. Know any bars around here?"

Meredith shook her head and the white of her teeth stood out for a moment in the darkness with her smile. "Nope. I'm avoiding bars for the foreseeable future. They only get me in trouble. And I have to be to work before five tomorrow. Look," she hopped off of the hood and walked around to the driver's side. "You don't have to understand it. You don't have to like it. You don't have to be or do anything. We've met all of twice…well, three times now. We're going to be working in the same hospital but we don't have to interact. You're an attending and I'm an intern…again. Just do your job and let me do mine."

"Grey," he sighed and shook his head again. "Fine. You're here to start over. So am I." He stood up straight and walked around to her side. "However…if there was anyone from my life before that I had to be here with…I'm glad it's you."

Meredith hesitantly put her hand on his forearm and squeezed. "Me too."

Mark reached over and opened the door for her. "So…I'll see you tomorrow then, Dr. Grey?"

"Guess so," she answered and slid into the seat. "Kinda hard to avoid each other at such a small hospital."

Mark's deep laugh surprised him. Had it really been that long since he'd had something to be amused over? "Yes, it would be. So it's a good thing we're not trying to avoid each other. Good night, Grey."

"Good night, Sloan."

**MS/MG MS/MG MS/MG**

Mark put his hand over the spot on his arm where Meredith's hand had rested. He could still feel the heat of it. The zing of the electricity that had pulsed through him had shocked him. He wondered if she'd felt it too.

"How did you meet my little girl, Dr. Sloan?" Dr. Q's voice had Mark nearly jumping in fright. He hadn't thought there was anyone else out here yet.

"Your little girl?" Mark asked in surprise. "You're Grey's dad?" He turned to face the man after he could no longer see Meredith's tail lights.

"Not as such…but I wish I had been. I worked with her mother in Boston when she was just a tiny child." Dr. Q stared at the spot where Grey's car had disappeared. He sighed and turned to Mark after a moment. "So, want to tell me the problem between you and her?"

Mark frowned. "There isn't one," he denied. "We were just surprised to see each other, is all. I never expected her to be here." He eyed the older man for a moment. "You know she's running from something, right?"

To his surprise Dr. Q laughed heartily. "Oh, my boy," he shook his head. "Mer's not running from something. She thinks she is..but no, she's running to something. I have no idea what it is but she's running forwards not away. Did she tell you anything of what happened in Seattle?"

Mark shrugged. "I know bits and pieces from being there for part of it but no, she hasn't told me the whole story. I don't expect that she will. We're not friends. We barely know each other. We only met a few times."

"Mmm," Dr. Q hummed. "I see. Well…would you like a bit of advice?" Mark shrugged. "You're both here for a fresh start. Grab it. Don't let the past interfere."

Mark stared out into the darkness and then finally nodded. "She said something about her mom having Alzheimer's?"

"You didn't know?"

"No, that wasn't a subject that came up between us in either of our two conversations in Seattle."

"Ellis was diagnosed with early on-set Alzheimer's the summer before Mer started Medical School. She made Mer promise not to tell anyone. Mer kept her secret for five years…until Ellis was admitted to Seattle Grace last year. I don't quite remember what was wrong but the entire hospital found out. Some of them didn't take Mer's supposed lies well."

Mark snorted. "That's stupid. She was only doing what her mother wanted."

"It is, yes," Dr. Q nodded. "But we can't change it. Mer moved her out here for the facilities at Cliffside. It is a very good home for those suffering from Alzheimer's. Better than Roseridge where she was in Seattle. Roseridge is good too but not as good. I find it amazing that Mer is trying so hard to take care of her mother."

"Why?" Mark asked. "Was Grey that bad as a daughter before?"

Dr. Q's light brown eyes flashed angrily in the dark before he drew in a calming breath. "No. Ellis was that bad as a mother." He turned and stalked back into the restaurant leaving Mark alone on the porch with his reeling thoughts.


	6. Friends and Relations

**Disclaimer: The characters from GA are not mine. Unfortunately. **

**Friends and Relations**

Mark Sloan had always been amazingly smart. He knew it. Everyone knew it. So the small tidbit that Dr. Q had let slip about his favorite dirty mistress met up with other small tidbits from other people and from his own observations to form a picture that he really didn't like.

He cursed himself for not paying enough attention while he was in Seattle. He should have been able to detect the pain riding the small woman with the green eyes and the sad smile. But he hadn't. He'd been too caught up in his own drama. Not that he could have really made any difference.

He knew logically that there was nothing he could have done for her but he couldn't help feeling that he should have tried. He had no idea where the urge had come from. He'd never much cared about other people's pain but hers…hers called to him. Asked him…begged him to help.

The way Mark saw things he had a choice to make. He could ignore her and her pain, he could continue to be angry with her for failing to meet his expectations, or he could offer to be her friend and in so doing find and eliminate some of that pain.

The first choice had him shuddering in revulsion. He had never been good with seeing women in pain. Sure he used sex to help them feel better but it worked more often than not.

The second choice had him squirming in his seat. He knew that he had no right to be angry with her and no right to have any expectations of her. He didn't know anything about her and he'd run away long before she had.

So it looked like it was going to have to be door number three. He was actually comfortable with that option. It didn't look as though Grey had very many friends anyway. He could do this. He could be her friend and nothing else. Derek had probably ruined any chances he had for anything else anyway.

**MS/MG MS/MG MS/MG**

There had to be something wrong with her, Meredith decided. It was four thirty in the morning and she was excited to be up. She was ready for work and happy about it. Shrugging to herself and deciding that if this was insanity it wasn't so bad she scooped up her travel mug of coffee and headed out of her tiny apartment.

She probably could have afforded a bigger place but she didn't want to chance having roommates again. That hadn't worked out so well the last time.

Her cell phone rang just as she was unlocking her jeep and she rolled her eyes but answered anyway. "Trying to get to work, brother bear, whatcha want?" She didn't have to check the caller ID to know who was on the other end of the line. She settled her coffee in the cup holder and pulled on the hated Bluetooth so that she could talk and drive.

"I know that, baby girl, that's why I'm calling now instead of later. I just got off. And you are never going to believe the crazy things going on around here." His voice was way too upbeat for a man just coming off of his first forty eight hour shift as a resident.

Meredith sighed not quite sure that she wanted to know what was happening in Seattle but unable to not ask. "So tell me then," she ordered and pulled out of her parking space.

"Okay, I will…how long until you actually get to the hospital? Cuz this is gonna take a bit if I get into details."

"Five minutes, tops," she said smugly. "That's the good thing about a smaller town…though I guess a population of nearly 20,000 people doesn't exactly count as small does it? And I actually could have walked to the hospital I just didn't feel like it this morning."

"Lucky bitch…anyway, I'll give you the bare bones. You know Burke left Yang at the altar, right? Well, he quit, vanished. She's totally bitchy over it too. You'd think two weeks in Hawaii would have mellowed her out some. And Bambi failed his intern test. He came back and he's my intern. This year is going to be so great." She could hear his smug smile in his voice. "After the shit he pulled last year I'm so going to make this year a nightmare for him."

Meredith fought her impulse to giggle insanely at him. "You should be nice," she tried to scold.

"Then why are you laughing, baby girl?" Alex chuckled. "Well, I'm headed to Joe's want me to tell him hi for you?"

"Yeah, tell him I'm doing really good out here, if he asks," she instructed. She gave a brief thought to telling Alex and Joe about Mark Sloan being here but decided that could wait for another day. That information could wait until she figured out how she actually felt about it first.

"I will," Alex promised. "But…are you? Are you really okay, baby girl?" His voice was concerned and it touched her that he really did care.

Meredith grinned as she parked her jeep in front of JC. "Yeah, brother bear, seriously. I'm doing good. Really good."

"Okay then," she could hear the relief in his voice. "I'll let all the interested parties know and I'll talk to you later?"

"Sure," she nodded. "Call me after you get some sleep. I'll let you know if I have time to get the details. Cuz now I'm burning with curiosity."

"That's cuz you're nosy as Hell, baby girl," Alex laughed and hung up.

Meredith grinned and jumped from her jeep before racing up the stairs to the surgical entrance. She had twenty minutes before she had to be to work but she fully intended to be early.

**MS/MG MS/MG MS/MG**

The other five interns were in various stages of dressing when she blew into the locker room and she frowned. "I'm not late," she said more to herself. "Seriously. I'm like early and whatever."

Ellie looked up from tying her shoes and grinned. "You're not late, Mer, don't worry. We're just all here obnoxiously early because yesterday had to be a fluke."

Meredith tossed her bag in her locker and pulled out her scrubs. "Right. Good." She kicked off her flats and shimmied out of her jeans. She ignored the leering stares from the boys with practiced ease. She'd been nearly naked in front of Alex and completely naked in front of George; if she could handle them then she could handle this.

"Any idea what we've got going today?" Michael asked as she pulled her scrub shirt on over her long-sleeved t-shirt.

Meredith shook her head. "Not a clue," she answered easily. "Why would I?"

"Somebody has to know something," he pouted. "We can't all be completely clueless."

"Looks like we are though, Mikey," Eric teased. "At least until we get out there and find out what's the what."

Meredith, Jocelyn and Ellie rolled their eyes at the boys and then as one bolted for the door to be the first ones there.

"Well, I'm glad you girls are excited to start even if it looks like the boys are lagging a bit today," Dr. Flyte smirked. "So that means…Donaldson, you're with Crawley in Ortho…the other Crawley. Crawley you're in peds with Tanner. Grey, you're with me. McKinley, scut. Branigan, pit. And Phillips you're with Sloan in plastics, he requested you."

"Really?" Michael brightened up and grinned.

Meredith couldn't help but shake her head in amusement. She'd heard all about Sloan's hatred of interns that weren't female and had no doubt that this was his way of getting revenge for being forced to sit next to Michael last night.

"So pre-rounds, then rounds and then you all scurry off to your assignments…got it?" Dr. Flyte asked.

They all nodded like bobble head dolls and took the charts she held out for them. Meredith flipped through hers and shook her head at the sloppiness of the writing. She'd fix that as soon as she had a minute. But for now she read through her charts and followed Dr. Flyte to meet the patients.


	7. The Meaning of Coffee

**Disclaimer: Still not mine. I swear. Wish they were though. Happy endings all around that way.**

**The Meaning of Coffee**

Mark was waiting at the nurse's station when the interns finished their rounds. "Dr. Flyte," he greeted. "You're looking remarkably perky for this early in the morning. Looks good on you."

Flyte eyed him with a cynical air. "You have that same look on your face that my husband gets when his dog has chewed up my newest shoes. Shoes that cost a hundred dollars. What did you do?"

Mark widened his eyes innocently and put a hand over his heart with an exaggerated wince. "Ouch. That hurts. I didn't do anything by the way—"

"Then you want something," she laughed. "You're a man. What did you want, Dr. Sloan? I might be persuaded to grant your request."

Mark grinned back at her and Meredith remembered why she'd nicknamed him McSteamy. "I need to borrow Grey for five minutes. I'll give her back, I promise. And she should be in the same condition as she is now."

Flyte eyed him and then stared at Meredith for a moment. "That's pretty fast even for a quickie," she commented. "Sure…just not in front of the nurses. They're a bit old fashioned."

Mark sighed and stared up at the ceiling. "I have no designs on her virtue, Dr. Flyte," he said with his eyes closed. "Mer's a friend and that's it."

Flyte laughed. "Pull the other one, it's got bells on," she smirked and then turned to the other five interns. "What are you all doing standing around gawping? Get to work," she ordered and they all scattered except Michael who looked from Flyte to Meredith to Mark and back.

Mark thrust a chart into his chest and glared. "Read that and wait here," he ordered. Then he grabbed Meredith's elbow and dragged her to the other side of the large counter. He handed her a cup of coffee and shrugged. "There's cream and sugar if you want it," he motioned to the little packets. "Didn't know what you liked to drink so I just got you the regular stuff."

Meredith took the coffee gingerly and then stared into his chiseled face for a moment before giving him a small smile. "I'm not picky," she told him and took a sip of the steaming brew.

Mark smiled softly back. "You sure? Cuz if you tell me your favorite kind I'll bring you one every morning…if you like." He seemed unsure of himself.

Meredith cocked her head to the side and her smile became impish. "Hey if gets me free coffee of my choice I may never forgive you for being an ass."

Mark smirked at her. "I wasn't an ass…" she cocked an eyebrow at him. "Okay so I was an ass. Still you took the coffee so that means you forgive me and want to be my friend."

Meredith couldn't stop the light chuckled that bubbled up in her throat. "It means nothing of the sort," she protested. "It means I'm an intern and need the caffeine. That's all."

Mark grinned and his blue eyes sparkled. His expression nearly took Meredith's breath away. "I'm good to my friends," he told her. "I supply coffee…and someone to talk to. If you need it. Cuz you're thousands of miles from home and none of your friends are here."

Meredith frowned at him. "I have a friend," she pouted. "Granted he's still in Seattle but he's my friend and he calls every other day. So I'm good on the friends front."

"But he can't bring you coffee in the mornings can he?" Mark pressed. "Look, I just…neither of us really knows anyone yet and we have the whole club thing and I just…friends?"

Meredith shrugged. "Fine. Friends…on one condition."

Mark sipped at his cappuccino and nodded. "What condition?"

"You go away," she stated with a sharp nod. "I wanna be friends with Mark Sloan not this unsure nervous shell of him. Mark Sloan is sardonic, a bit cruel and arrogant so yeah, as long as he brings me the coffee then I'll be friends with him."

Mark was surprised into a genuine laugh. "Okay then," he nodded. "But I can't be mean to you. It would totally destroy the dirty mistresses club."

A flash of pain flared in Meredith's eyes but she covered it quickly with a smile. "There is no dirty mistresses club anymore. We'll be the refugees from Seattle or something but I'm not a dirty mistress and I never wanted to be in the first place. Oh, and that brings up another condition for our friendship."

"Another one?" Mark scowled. "Just how many rules and conditions do you have, Grey?"

"Just the two so far," she slanted him a sly smile. "I don't think you'll object much to the second." She continued to give him a mysterious Mona Lisa type smile.

He finally cracked and smiled back at her. Those green eyes, so full of sorrow and yet still fiery with determination should be illegal. "What's the second condition?" He asked slowly.

"You ever sleep with my spouse and I'll cut your ears off and scar your face so bad not even you could stitch it back up." She half-threatened, half-promised.

Mark was startled into another laugh. "I think I can handle that one," he chuckled. She grinned back at him and some of the sorrow was replaced by amusement. "Except…does that mean that when we get married I can't…you know?"

Meredith felt a moment of shock and then shook it off. He was only teasing. He had to be teasing. "You know…" she let her lips curve into another smile. "If you can't say it, then you can't do it."

Mark frowned. "Fine. So after you make an honest man of me then I'm not allowed to masturbate anymore? Not that I do that very often. Women are so accommodating. And warmer."

"I'm sure they are," Meredith turned and headed back to Dr. Flyte. She paused and looked at him over her shoulder. Her eyes swept him from the top of his head to his feet and back again. The stare left him feeling hot and vaguely undressed. "We'll renegotiate after the vows, Sloan, and not until then." Then she turned back and stood calmly beside Dr. Flyte.

Mark swallowed a mouthful of coffee and shuddered mentally. Meredith Grey had just fucked him with her eyes and he'd found himself unsatisfied and longing for her. That was…well, damn. His life just got a bit more interesting. Maine was a very good idea.


	8. The Interns

**Disclaimer: Grey's isn't mine. And I'm bored with writing cute, funny disclaimers. And I haven't had enough coffee to find myself amusing so…yeah. It's not mine and I make no profit from this story or any other. **

**The Interns**

Dr. Amanda Flyte had kept a close eye on all of the interns now under her care through their first day. She had roamed the halls and spied to see what each one was up too. She wasn't happy with some of them but she'd show them what it meant to be a doctor at JC.

She felt the quiet presence at her side and turned to stare at the young woman that was her most promising intern. "Grey, go prep 1710 for an appendectomy," she ordered. "And then meet me in the scrub room outside OR 2."

Meredith's lips curved. "Yes, Dr. Flyte." She didn't waste time on questions. She simply hurried off down the hall to the patient's room.

Flyte watched her scurry off with a smile. She needed to go check on the others before her surgery.

Branigan was sitting at the nurse's station with his feet propped on the desk half asleep. She knocked his feet off the desk and told him there was a waiting room full of patients to be seen too. Yesterday she'd found him sound asleep in an on-call room while the nurses and orderlies had prepped his patient. He was a lazy son of a bitch and she intended to knock that out right away. She couldn't stand lazy doctors.

She found Crawley happily chatting with a child in the Pediatric Ward while gently inspecting the child's incision. Tanner gave Flyte a nod and she hurried off. Crawley had a gentle touch and soft voice that fit into the Peds department perfectly. And the attending was her sister-in-law so she'd do the best to impress Jessie. She'd have to assign her somewhere else next shift and see if her dedication continued though she was fairly sure it would. Crawley had sat with the C-Section patient for two hours the previous day and answered every question the woman put to her about the procedure. If she didn't know the answer she'd called on the attending, Fitzwilliam. After her patient had been escorted to the OR Crawley had gone to the clinic and hadn't left until the end of her shift.

Donaldson was huffing and puffing while holding down a patient while Crawley (the male) set the patient's arm. The college football player was screaming blue murder and vowing vengeance on his teammates. Donaldson just rolled her eyes and told him to stop screaming in her ear. She was dedicated to the job but if the scene Flyte had witnessed the day before was any indication she was also flighty and a gossip. She'd spent two hours chatting with the nurses the day before. That could become a problem and Flyte made a mental note to keep an eye on her.

After searching for McKinley for ten minutes she finally found him planted in one of the conference rooms with charts spread out before him. He was wearing a scowl that said how unhappy he was with the job but he was doing it. He was a complainer. After he'd taken his patient for a CT the day before he'd gone to the galleries and done nothing but sit around and complain about the patient, how long the wait for the CT was and God knows what else. He hadn't gone to the clinic at all. He simply did the bare minimum for the job and that was it.

She stumbled onto Mark as she passed one of his patient's rooms. Phillips wasn't with him. She frowned and waited for Mark to finish before she pulled him from the room. "Where's Phillips?" She asked.

Mark rolled his eyes. "Sent him on a coffee run," he admitted. "The man's a bumbling idiot. He dropped the patient's chart twice and knew nothing about the procedure though he swears that he's headed for plastics. His hands were shaking like crazy and he couldn't stop stumbling over his words."

Flyte rubbed at her temple. "Fine. When he gets back send him to OR 2 for new instructions. I'll send you Grey. She, at least, seems to know what she's doing. Though that's not all that surprising. She was halfway through the internship program when she had to take a leave of absence for family reasons in Seattle." She eyed the carefully bland expression on Mark's face and smirked. "Besides you know her so I assume you are cognizant of her capabilities." She paused and pursed her lips. "Are you preforming the surgery today?"

Mark nodded. "So long as the kid doesn't spike a fever after noon. He had one yesterday morning and I wanted to wait twenty-four hours after it had cleared."

Flyte nodded. "Good. Let her scrub in if you do. I was going to have her assist with my appy but you've ruined that so you owe her. You don't have to let her assist but let her in the OR."

Mark sighed but nodded. "I would have anyway," he grinned charmingly. "You didn't have to threaten me. I like Mer and I heard nothing but good things about her doctoring skills in Seattle. She's going to be an excellent surgeon."

Flyte stared at him with a jaundiced eye. "You're gonna favor her like mad, aren't you?" She asked without a hint of judgment.

Mark leaned a shoulder against the wall. "I will if she lets me but I don't think she will. She'll take the coffee I bring her and she'll hang out at lunch with me. But when it comes to the surgeries and stuff…well, I think she'll be the type to break my head open if I treat her differently than the others. Unless she chooses plastics." He chuckled a little bit. "Then she'll fight tooth and nail for every surgery I'll grant her."

Flyte laughed with him. "She would be, yes. There's a fire in her. It's nice. She's going to cause trouble but it'll be the good kind." She looked around the hallway for a sight of Phillips and frowned when she didn't spot him. "How long does it take to get a cup of coffee?" She growled.

"Told you he was an idiot," Mark smirked.

"Damn. I have to go. Send him to me when he finally arrives. Where do you want me to send Grey?"

"Main nurse's desk," he replied promptly. "I'll update her on the case there."

"Got it," Flyte nodded and headed to the ORs.

Mark watched her go with a grin. He hadn't even had to request his favorite intern and she was working with him anyway. Score.


End file.
